


lemon boy

by sootcharlie



Category: soothouse
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, String of Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29819196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sootcharlie/pseuds/sootcharlie
Summary: Jack didn’t expect for himself to get along as well as he did with Dan, but he's glad their friendship ended up how it did.
Relationships: Jack Soot & Dan Soot
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	lemon boy

Jack didn’t expect for himself to get along as well as he did with Dan. The guy was always super joking and didn’t seem to care for anything except for the bit, but he was surprised with how much Dan opened up when he got to know the other.

Their friendship started off rocky, to say the least. Wilbur had introduced them to each other during lunch one day, seeing as Dan was alone and having just one more person in their group wouldn’t hurt. From the stories they’ve heard in the cafeteria, he’d get along with the group just fine if he was the funny kind of guy.

But red and yellow don’t mix well together.

You see, Jack was.. cautious around Dan. Not for the reason that the guy was suspicious, no, not at all, he seemed like a very kind guy, but it was because of that damn string.

Jack was able to see who people were platonically linked to by strings on their finger. A friendship kind of deal. Wilbur’s was a gray that faded into a green with Davids, and their dynamic is just undefeated. 

He was slightly jealous, but he didn’t ever bring that part up around them. He’s never told anyone about the strings, really. 

The fear of being called weird or being brushed off was a bit too much for him. Especially the stares. The stares of disappointment, and the mockery was always the worst part. He’s learned not to trust anyone after that.

He should be excited to finally have met the person behind his own string, but he just felt dread. The harsh red of Dan’s string compared to his calming yellow.. It set him off a lot. It faded into a weird orange. 

Orange was a scary color. Orange meant uncertainty. Matt’s string was orange. But his linked to Rhianna. Theirs made a surprisingly pretty brown color. Not one that was too harsh on the eyes, but not one that looked like literal crap either.

And orange put fear into Jack’s mind about their friendship. Even if they were linked and were supposed to be friends due to the connection.. 

Dan was.. Dan.

The funny guy. Not expected to be best friends with Jack, albeit the most confident guy in the class, the outcast. The one that was pursued by everyone as a way to get a ruse out of them. 

So he chose not to tell the man about the string. 

If they became rivals, so be it. He wasn’t going to risk anything again.

\---

Dan, on the other hand, was intent on becoming Jack’s friend. He could tell that something was up with the other.

What, exactly? He didn’t know. But Jack was sad. And even if he didn’t know Jack for long, he still sees the other as a friend. He has a strong sense to protect the man, and god could come down and fight Dan himself if he thought he wasn’t going to try to help the other.

And this is how he finds himself sitting on the gross bathroom tiles of the school bathroom next to Jack Soot.

“Hey, are you okay?” Dan asked softly, being surprised to find the other in here in the first place. At least he wasn’t crying. That was good. But it didn’t explain why he was looking so sad in the bathroom in the first place. 

Dan put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. He wasn’t surprised when the other turned his head away, putting a hand on his cheek and sighing. He doesn’t blame the other at all for it.

“We don’t have to talk.”

“..No, no I.. I want to. I want to say sorry, Dan.”

He’s taken aback by that. Why should Jack have to apologize- no, WHAT does he have to apologize for?

The confused look on Dan’s face is all Jack needs to carry on, he realizes.

“For avoiding you. In our friend group, I mean. It’s.. You have to have noticed it. But it’s not your fault. I swear.” He sighs, and looks down. The other doesn’t know much of what to do. He’s not the best at comforting people, but he’ll still try his best.

“Well.. I haven’t really noticed it. There is those few moments where you push me away, but that’s probably normal for people to do.” He shrugged, and he honestly felt a bit sad at Jack’s shocked expression. As if someone has never told him his worries were wrong before.

“..Have you ever heard about the strings of fate?”

\---

Jack has a soft smile on his face as Dan exaggerates his hand movements about the current topic that they’ve been debating about for the past few minutes.

Ever since their talk in the bathroom, he feels much more safer with Dan. The others have noticed too, seeing how much Jack latches onto the other now, and how much more protective Dan is with Jack.

They’re slowly becoming closer.

Every few days, Dan asks about the string.

“Still clear as day, bud.”

\---

Dan’s slumped against him, head resting in the crook of Jack’s neck. They stayed up late last night chatting about random things, and exhaustion caught up with Dan.

His fingers look down to the red and yellow string on their fingers as he feels his own eyes start to shut.

It almost looks like it’s glowing from the way he’s squinting. It’s calming, and slightly ironic in a way.

Maybe red and yellow do mix well.


End file.
